


Meet Me on the Equinox

by knitbelove (ladymac111)



Series: The happy ending is when things are going to begin for me. [10]
Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Gen, M/M, POV First Person, Post-Canon, Present Tense, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 03:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5896558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladymac111/pseuds/knitbelove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty autumnal equinoxes have come and gone.<br/>Natasha Pitch won't rest until she's visited her son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet Me on the Equinox

**Author's Note:**

> Massive beautiful thanks to ElizaJane for both the prompt and the beta! It's a delight working with you.
> 
> For the February [twelveintwelve2016](http://twelve-in-twelve-2016.tumblr.com) prompt, [Second Chances](http://twelve-in-twelve-2016.tumblr.com/post/138417115701/february-prompt).

**September 2035**

**_-Simon-_ **

The bedroom is fucking freezing, even though it's too early in the season for it to be this cold, and I'm awakened by a noise that I seem to remember from long ago, but in my sleep-addled state I can't even bother to try to place it.

I sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, intending to shut the window, and then I see her, the ghostly figure standing at the foot of the bed.  And then I remember.

She looks shocked.   _"You again!"_

"Oh my god," is the only thing I can think to say, and I'm sure I sound like a complete idiot.

 _"Where is my son?"_ she demands, coming closer, almost menacing.   _"Where is Basilton?"_

My heart is pounding.  "Baz!" I hiss, shaking his hip through the duvet.

"What," he grumbles.

"Holy shit, Baz, wake up, it's your mum!"

In the time it takes me to blink he's rolled over and sat up, and his mother moves to his side of the bed so quickly that I’m not entirely sure she didn’t just appear there.   _"Basil, is it really you?"_

"Mum?  What are you … what are you doing here?"

 _"I had to see you, I had to see my son."_  She's crouching in front of him, cradling his head to her breast, and his arms are clutching her robes.

"But we avenged your death," he murmurs, sounding baffled.  "We did it, twenty years ago."

 _"You did, you did,"_ she says, and she sound like she's weeping, choking on tears.   _"But I didn't see you.  I had to see you.  I had to see you're okay."_

"I'm okay, Mum, I'm great."  He leans back to look up at her, and her hands are stroking his face.  "Everything's great.  I'm a solicitor now, and I work for the Coven, and I've been married for thirteen years.  I'm happy, I'm really happy."

She looks at me then, and I realize I've been staring.   _"I saw him before."_

Baz turns, like he's forgotten I'm right there on the other side of the bed.  "Simon.  We were roommates at Watford, you … you saw him then.  He told me, last time.  He's my husband now."

She looks back to Baz with so much love in her eyes it makes my heart ache, and she kisses his hair, his forehead, his cheek, and now he's crying too.   _"I'm so proud of you, Basilton,"_ she says, and she's beginning to fade.   _"I love you so much."_

"I love you too, Mum," he whispers, and his fingers are starting to pass through her.

_"Goodbye, my son.  I love you--"_

And then she's gone.

Baz is sitting on his side of the bed, trembling, weeping silently.  I scoot over and wrap my arms around him, and for a long time we just hold each other.  Eventually he lays down, and I start to move away, back to my side, but he grips my wrist, and in the dark I can just barely see him, the wordless plea of _don’t leave me alone_.  So I keep my arm around his waist, and I rest my forehead on his shoulder, and I stay until long after he’s fallen asleep.


End file.
